American Sniper... from a Marine who was there

[SHRED]

This is powerful because it is the truth.

American Sniper?
By: Ross Caputi

Chris Kyle built his reputation as a sniper during one of the most criminal operations of the entire occupation of Iraq, the 2nd siege of Fallujah.

What American Sniper offers us — more than a heart-wrenching tale about Chris Kyle’s struggle to be a soldier, a husband, and a father; more than an action packed story about America’s most lethal sniper — is an exposure of the often hidden side of American war culture. The criminality that has characterized American military engagements since the American Indian Wars, and most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan, is hardly noticeable in this film. And that’s exactly my point.

Your average American viewer might be surprised to find out that Chris Kyle built his reputation as a sniper during one of the most criminal operations of the entire occupation of Iraq, the 2nd siege of Fallujah. He or she certainly won’t learn this by watching American Sniper, which doesn’t even hint that Chris Kyle ever did anything in Iraq except kill bad guys and defend America. And this speaks volumes about how little we understand the wars that our country fights around the world.

Perhaps my argument seems strange — that the most insightful part of this film is what is not in it. However, I believe that these omissions reflect more than just what the director decided to be irrelevant to the plot. These omissions reveal an unconscious psychological process that shields our ideas about who we are as individuals and as a nation. This process, known as “moral disengagement”, is extremely common in militaristic societies. But what is fascinating about American Sniper is how these omissions survive in the face of overwhelming evidence of the crimes that Chris Kyle participated in. The fact that a man who participated in the 2nd siege of Fallujah — an operation that killed between 4,000 to 6,000 civilians, displaced 200,000, and may have created an epidemic of birth defects and cancers — can come home, be embraced as a hero, be celebrated for the number of people he has killed, write a bestselling book based on that experience, and have it made into a Hollywood film is something that we need to reflect on as a society.

MORE HERE: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/American-Sniper-20150110-0019.html

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

1. I knew it...thanks for the info

[snappyturtle]

2. The last paragraph at the link says a lot!:

At the end of the day, it’s the Chris Kyles who we embrace as heroes, not the Chelsea Mannings. And we will surely suffer for this as a society, but probably not before we make other societies suffer first.

[olegramps]

53. I believe that the most important message strikes at the root of the problem.

"This is the problem with veteran narrations about their war experience—they are often told through an emotionally charged, ideological filter that reflects the misinformation told to them by their leaders."

This is why I am opposed to an all volunteer army. It can result in impressionable young people being literally brainwashed into believing without any question that they are on a noble mission. A draft results in a army composed of a wide variety of views that is less subject to group think and more likely to question what they are told to believe. This is also why I believe that the military academies should be abolished. Perhaps in the past they were necessary when other options didn't exist. Those desiring a commission should attend college and join the ROTC where they are exposed to variety challenging opinions.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

3. Americans have been conditioned to love violence, be inured to suffering of others and the

lazily welcome the propaganda that wraps it up in a red, white and blue message.

Who do you know that actually asks questions about what they are told?

[BlancheSplanchnik]

16. ^ n/t

[chervilant]

28. Most of my liberal friends

actually ask questions about what we are told. Most of my liberal friends understand that much of what we see or hear from the M$M is propaganda designed to promote the false patriotism that Johnson (and, more recently, Dylan) so eloquently decried.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

30. OK. Now how about everybody else? Family, co-workers, neighbors...

people that you deal with every day that don't fit into the last three groups.

I usually walk softly and carry a big stick with these groups since I know that some of these groups are stereotypical when it comes to their response.

[chervilant]

31. I've learned that the "everybody else" you might

be referencing are most often rigid authoritarians, who respond defensively to anything that challenges their world view. I've learned it's fruitless--and sometimes dangerous--to challenge their world view.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

32. Hence my #3 post.

Questioning right vs wrong is so hippy long hair for most people I have found.

[Denis 11]

34. This deserves a thread of it's own.

During November and December of 2004, I was working with a man who's son was a Marine serving at the center of the Battle of Fallujah . I will never forget the apprehension he experienced until his son came home. Although I have two sons I cannot imagine how hard it was for him.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

35. Welcome to DU, Denis 11.

[Denis 11]

47. Thanks

[Victor_c3]

58. My parents went through that

I was in Iraq from Feb 2004 through March 2005. I came home for my two-week leave right at the end of October 2004 and returned to Iraq just in time for Fallujah. My company (A co / 2-2 In BN / 3 BDE / 1 ID) actually spearheaded the Marine assault into Fallujah I felt relieved at the time as my platoon was tasked to guard one of three power transfer stations that was feeding Baghdad with electricity. However, the Army severed our communication with home during the entire operation. News reports aired that some officers from my unit had been killed (I was a 1st Lieutenant at the time) and my newly married wife and parents completely bugged out until I was able to get a hold of them and alleviate their fears.

In fact my good friend and neighbor 1LT Edward Iwan and my company commander CPT Sean Sims were killed in Fallujah.

[daleanime]

44. +1

[Bay Boy]

4. Is it being suggested that...

...Kyle committed individual crimes or is it that he participated in an illegal war that anything he did there was a crime?

[SHRED]

6. that's why I posted a link

So people could read and formulate for themselves. Not trying to be snarky here but if you read the article you may find your answer.

[marym625]

5. K&R!

for Ross Caputi 

[malthaussen]

7. Well, the author shows some of the same conditioning...

... when he observes that criminality has characterized American military engagements since the Indian Wars. Unless he is considering the Indian Wars to have begun rather earlier than is generally accepted, like say the 17th century. It would be instructive (albeit dismaying) to consider just which of our military adventures have not been characterized by criminality.

-- Mal

[Midnight Writer]

33. Just read an interview with Orlando Bosch

Bosch was a Cuban expatriate who bombed a Cuban airliner with 73 people on board, including over twenty children on the Cuban fencing team. He was also implicated in terrorist killings in Honduras, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Panama and Chile. He was caught on tape bragging about the assassination of Orlando Lettellier in our nations capital, Washington, DC.

He was also a CIA agent, trained and handled by our government.

When asked if he felt remorse for killing the innocent children on the plane. he chillingly replied "In war, there are no innocents. Those children would have grown up to be Communists."

Bosch was arrested and convicted of political assassination in Panama. Then US President George HW Bush sent his son, JEB BUSH, to broker a deal releasing Bosch to US custody. Bush then issued a Presidential Pardon to Bosch, freeing him from custody and giving him immunity from all other charges.

Another American Hero, killing innocents in the name of righteous American Imperialism.

[Judi Lynn]

37. The Miami city commissioners also named a day of the year for him, also a street in Miami.

Thank you for mentioning this arch-criminal, who is a huge celebrity among the original wave Cuban "exiles" who fled Cuba to escape the Revolution.

[Midnight Writer]

39. I guess history belongs to the "victor"

Or at least to the viewer.

In the American Sniper film, the "bad guy" is an Islamic sniper defending his country. The "good guy" is the American sniper invading a country.

I am no fan of foreign despots, whether Castro or Hussein, but how in the hell is our violent intervention in these countries helping?

[Hangingon]

54. The "bad guy" was a Syrian.

[Thespian2]

57. Thanks for this post.

Very difficult to keep up with all the atrocities committed by the Bush Family Criminal Organization and the CIA. Everyone should, by now, know that if the government or FBI or CIA or other entities in the government want you dead, you will die.

[Victor_c3]

59. I hate to get into this too much

but from my own experiences with killing in war I can tell you that you either accept it and are able to move on in life (like a sociopath) or the guild you feel completely destroys you and every aspect of your life.

Sadly, the more death and killing you experience and the more you see the easier it becomes.

So, in short, I'm not at all surprised that this guy doesn't feel remorse.

[whathehell]

48. Criminality has infected, and frequently "characterized" ALL wars fought by all countries

since the beginning of time. Just saying.

[frylock]

8. Chris Kyle was shooting at fish in a barrel..

what a hero.

[BeanMusical]

9. That guy was a psychopath.

What's next, a movie with Ted Bundy as the good guy?

[ann---]

52. Exactly my thoughts

[joanbarnes]

10. Agreed. I'm sickened to the core, especially by the 'Christians' who worship this mass killer.

[ewagner]

11. Wow....

summed up nicely...

[DinahMoeHum]

12. The 2 sieges of Fallujah were essentially payback. . .

. . .for the killing of 4 American mercenaries who were employees of Blackwater.

[samsingh]

13. as long as we have clint eastwoods and 30% of the voting public prepared to vote repug

chris kyle's will be around

[markpkessinger]

14. Don't miss the link to the author's documentary film, "Fear Not the Path of Truth" . . .

http://vimeo.com/80051615

[SHRED]

18. Thank you!

[mountain grammy]

25. Thank you.

[Judi Lynn]

38. Thank you. n/t

[ReRe]

40. Thanks, markp

I read his whole article, but DID miss the link, so thanks for sharing it here. Going to watch it right now.

[uponit7771]

43. First 5 minutes of this is gripping !!! Great story telling

[KoKo]

50. Mark...can you post this in DU V&MM?

I think some vimeo will post there...but, not sure about this one. Is there a You Tube of it?

It would be great if more could view it there.

Recommend

[markpkessinger]

62. I posted it there yesterday . . .

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017240887

[KoKo]

64. Thanks!

[likesmountains 52]

61. Staggering..

Thank you for sharing.

[bvar22]

15. Fallujah was the Sunni town north & west of Baghdad...

Last edited Tue Jan 27, 2015, 05:17 PM - Edit history (1)

...where the locals caught 4 mercenaries (Backwater), and gave them a deserved mercenary's death.
American troops then surrounded Fallujah, and told the women & children to leave. Many did not leave but remained in Fallujah to be with their loved ones. American Troops then surrounded the town, cut off all exits,
and then flattened the place with White Phosphorus and a "napalm like substance" until no one was left alive.

Fallujah was an example of collective punishment forbidden under the Geneva convention.

(The above is from memory)

[Aristus]

20. The media certainly did their part after the killing of the mercenaries.

For weeks, the news channels implied that the four dead were these dewy-eyed 18 year-old boys far from home and mother. It finally came out that they were Blackwater mercenaries who had all been suspected of human rights abuses in their actions before they got killed. Anyway, they pretty much got what was coming to them; you take the paycheck, you take the risks...

[bvar22]

21. I agree.

People who voluntary go to War Zones to KILL for money are the scum of the earth.
The news channels initially tried to imply that these were young American Troops.
They were NOT. They were hardened sociopaths.

AFAIC, once a contract is signed with a Mercenary Outfit, that persons surrenders his American citizenship.

[Enthusiast]

45. +1

[YankmeCrankme]

23. Fallujah was the town

That after the defeat of the Iraqi army the US military set up a command post in the local school. Citizens protested and US soldiers open fire, including a .50 cal machine gun, into the crowd when one thought he heard a gunshot initiating the rest to fire. Many civilians were killed and after that Fallujah became a insurgent hot spot.

Here's a blurb o it from wikipedia;

"On the evening of 28 April 2003, a crowd of 200 people defied a curfew imposed by the Americans and gathered outside a secondary school used as a military HQ to demand its reopening. Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne stationed on the roof of the building fired upon the crowd, resulting in the deaths of 17 civilians and the wounding of over 70.[14] American forces claim they were responding to gunfire from the crowd, while the Iraqis involved deny this version. Human Rights Watch also dispute the American claims, and says that the evidence suggests the US troops fired indiscriminately and used disproportionate force.[15] A protest against the killings two days later was also fired upon by US troops resulting in two more deaths."

The mercenary deaths happened a year later. I think this was the event that started it all.

[rhett o rick]

17. Americans have been raised in a bully culture. We are the big bully of the world and those

raise in the bully culture love it. Many that have no lives of their own, live vicariously thru the power of our country. Of course we are always the good guys.

[SHRED]

19. Truth

[robbob]

22. It's gotten to the point where I think many don't even care if the USA are the 'good guys'

They think it's good enough to just be the biggest bully on the block.

[whathehell]

49. Yes, like the Brits before us, and the citizens of other "empires" before them.

Just providing a little perspective.

[blackspade]

24. very insightful OP

Thanks.

[mountain grammy]

26. Excellent article, read it all!

I started watching the documentary Fear Not the Path of Truth and bookmarked to finish later.

If as many Americans would see this documentary as see American Sniper, maybe voices of reason and sanity would prevail.

[janlyn]

27. Great read!

But I didn't need to read it to figure out the way most americans think. I realized that we honor criminals as heroes when at the age of 13 I saw a statue honoring George Armstrong Custer in Monroe Michigan. The saddest part was that the people I was visiting at the time didn't understand why I was so angry I was crying. The truth is you can't change the minds of most, when it comes to their opinion of their heroes.

[chervilant]

29. If I hear another person say

what a hero is Kyle, I'll puke all over them. (I live in Arkansas, so this event is highly likely...)

[The Wizard]

36. Dylan saw it for what it was back in 62

[Enthusiast]

46. +1

[ReRe]

41. K&R

Now this Veteran is the one we need to hold up as a "Hero." Getting ready to watch his doc right after I click "post my reply." Thanks, SHRED, for linking his article.

[ann---]

51. He and other

snipers are nothing but glorified murderers.

[Xyzse]

55. Thanks for the article.

[Victor_c3]

56. To be honest, but what did everyone expect the movie to be about?

The war was perpetrated for no reason other than to kill as many Arabs after September 11th as we could. Of course we are going to depict ourselves as nothing by heroes in our movies to justify the blood on our hands to ourselves. It makes it easier for us to sleep at night.

We as Americans were never interested in nation building or making a better Iraq for the Iraq people. Just listen to how the average American talks when they discuss the war. You'll hear things like "we should just turn the whole country into a glass parking lot" and "we should let our Soldiers take off their mittens and fight this like a real war!".

The American public and our representatives sent people like me over there to murder as many people as we could and murder is exactly what we did.

[SHRED]

60. Truth!

Yes I always thought that whole "nation building" bullshit was an attempt to give a phony fallback reason for in order to cover up the real motive in many people's hearts...unrelenting blood letting. I heard people say over and over again that "they are all the same over there".

[bvar22]

63. The Military doesn't build nations,

it destroys them.